John Osogo Boys High School in Budalangi, Busia County 2024 KCSE candidate Titus Oseso who scored an A minus in the has said the challenges went through didn’t hinder him from excelling in the examinations.
He is calling upon any well-wishers for financial assistance as he waits joining the university later this year.
Their home in Mudibia village in the flood prone Bunyala south zone is situated barely a few metres from Lake Victoria. The area has been, and is still frequently affected by the backflow of the lake which has flooded several homesteads, pushing the occupants into various flood rescue centres across Bunyala Sub-county.
Flood rescue centre
In an interview with Education News on Friday January 24, Oseso said they had been forced to leave their home and seek refuge in a flood rescue centre.
The student said due to his father’s financial constraints, he was forced to remain a day scholar, commuting from Humwanda flood rescue centre through River Nzoia to school, almost 25 kilometers away by boat daily.
“Life at the flood rescue centre where we had sought refuge was unbearable. The makeshift tents were too small to accommodate all of us, but we just had to squeeze ourselves there in,” stated Oseso.
Boarding fees
However, according to the student, his principal, Paul Obuya in collaboration with some of his teachers, sympathised with him and offered to pay his boarding fees so he could stay in school and have ample time for studies ahead of the exams.
“One fateful morning as the boat we had boarded was mainstream; it accidentally capsized throwing us into the fast flowing river whose level had increased due to the heavy rains at the time. As for me, I managed to swim up to the river bank, but unfortunately some of the passengers who couldn’t swim to safety perished,” recalled the student.
His father, Bonface Ogessa, a fisherman said life at the flood rescue centre was deplorable. They would suffer bouts of malaria as the mosquito nets were scarce.
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“We also suffered from the waterborne diseases, but the public health team from the area moved with speed and did all they could to provide us with the necessary drugs,” he said.
“In an effort to raise money for school fees, my son would insist, against my wish to accompany me to the lake to help me spread the fishing nets in a wide area so we could catch plenty of fish for sale,” he added.
However, Ogessa thanked the school principal and his teachers for volunteering to support his son by paying his boarding fees and part of the school fees.
Thankful
“Were it not for the assistance of the school principal Obuya and his teachers, frankly speaking my son would not have made it, so I would want to greatly laud them for the support,” he said.
The determined and hard-working student eventually sat for his KCSE exams last year, attaining a mean score of an A minus that will usher him into the university later this year.
He scored plain As in Mathematics, Kiswahili, History and Government and Business Studies. He also recorded A minus in Chemistry, B plus in Physics, B plain in Biology and a C plus in English.
The student further said he intends to pursue either Medicine or Engineering at the university later this year and is desperately appealing to any well-wisher to sponsor him since his father is unable to afford singlehandedly.
“I am desperately appealing to any good samaritan to sponsor me to the university to pursue the course I would wish to specialise in because my father is financially unstable,” he added.
Oseso can be reached through 0768196839.
By Gilbert Ochieng’
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